Page 33 of Darn Knit All

Please, sir, can I cum some more?

Mai

We’re both going to hell

Iplaced a tray of tea and snacks on my coffee table, then crossed to the small sewing area I’d set up years before. Hunched over the humming machine, Theo diligently fed the fabric through the needle, attempting to complete the hem of a shirt for what felt like the millionth time.

We’d spent the last week holed up in my apartment, teaching him the basics of fashion design. It was going… slowly.

“Ah ha!” he declared, releasing his foot from the pedal to stop the machine. “We have success.”

He snipped some loose threads and flicked the shirt out with a showman’s flourish before handing it to me.

I examined his work, trying not to smile as he fidgeted in place, awaiting my judgment.

“This hemline is looking more like a seismic graph than a straight line,” I teased, holding up the lopsided fabric. “But I can see improvement.”

He made a wounded animal sound clutching at his chest. “Come on. You gotta admit it’s not bad for a guy with one leg.”

I snorted. “Because your leg impacts your ability to follow a straight line.”

“Exactly.” He nodded, plucking the shirt from my hands. “I’m glad you understand.”

He pulled a seam ripper from the back pocket of his jeans and began to unpick each thread. His fingers moved deftly, surprisingly sure and agile for guy who’d only just begun to understand the basics of sewing.

“Getting good at this,” he said with a grin. “Perhaps you could employ me as your lead seam ripper.” He held up the small tool, pretending to call to an audience. “Seam ripper! Seam ripper! Forty bucks a seam!”

“It says a lot about you that destruction is your favorite part of the creative process.”

With the seam disassembled, he reached for a small pincushion full of needles, his fingers moving quickly to re-pin the fabric.

“What rating this time?” he asked with a grin.

“I give you a D plus,” I responded, straight-faced, though laughter threatened to bubble up my throat. “But an A plus for effort and enthusiasm.”

“I thank you for the crumbs from your table. I—ouch!” He winced, sticking his fingertip in his mouth to suck at the pin prick. “For the record, when I signed up for this gig, you failed to mention anything about blood pacts.”

“Think of it as a hazard of the job.” I nudged him playfully with my elbow as I leaned in to inspect his work. “You’re doing really well, Theo. Seriously. I couldn’t have asked for a better….” I paused, unsure of how to describe our fake relationship.

“Partner in crime?” he asked cheekily.

The apprehension, guilt, and panic began to breakthrough the opaque barrier I’d erected, oozing into my stomach and slithering up my spine.

“We still have time,” I whispered, all sense of lightness disappearing under the avalanche of stress that threatened to overwhelm me. “We could just call them and say we’ve made a mistake. That we broke up or that we?—”

“Shhh,” Theo hushed, stepping away from the sewing area to wrap me in a warm, tight hug. “We’ve got this. I promise. No one’s going know that we’re faking it. No one’s going to even suspect this isn’t real. You’re going on that show, you’re going to do your best, and that’s all anyone could ask.”

I closed my eyes, letting him hold me for a long moment as I listened to the steady beat of his heart against my ear. I took comfort in the warmth his skin radiated against mine.

My brother and Theo had been friends for years—ever since Ren had returned to the Cove upon graduation from theacademy. My brother had only ever wanted to be a firefighter, and his graduation and placement back in the Cove had been a source of great joy and pride for my family.

And not a small amount of relief to myhaha, who had worried over my brother since the day she’d brought him into the world. As her eldest child—and only boy—Ren had paved the path for my sister and I to follow our dreams. But he’d also left a chaotic mess in his wake, bringing others along with him for the ride.

Looking back, I still wasn’t sure exactly how Theo had managed to wiggle his way into my life. One second, we’d been kind-of acquaintances, and the next we were fake dating.

I am bamboozled by this relationship.

As much as I loved my friends—and Annie, Frankie, and Flo were as closer to me than my own sister—I had to admit that what Theo and I had was different. Somehow, he’d stormed past my defenses to become an essential part of my life.

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